ESAT Reconvenes Meeting with C.W.U. & Port of Belize Ltd.

Today, the Essential Services Arbitration Tribunal reconvened a meeting with the Christian Workers Union and the Port of Belize Limited.  The dispute between the two parties is over an award handed down in January 2022 for which compensation for loss must be paid to stevedores. But the P.B.L. is interpreting the ruling differently and so earlier this month, the C.W.U. gave notice of an intention to strike.  On Monday, Minister of Labour Oscar Requeña told the media that the tribunal would reconvene to address any and all concerns from both parties. This afternoon, the meeting began and P.B.L., as well as the Christian Workers Union, will now be responsible to make submissions to the tribunal for another decision to be made. The C.W.U. executive believes that it is going through a process that has already been undertaken. Following the first round of meetings, C.W.U. President Leonora Flowers spoke with the media.

Leonora Flowers

Leonora Flowers, President, Christian Workers Union

“The tribunal did meet today with our attorney – their attorney, the port’s attorney and our attorney. After both parties gave their positions, we were asked to provide submissions which we are going to do. Our attorney is going to provide submissions in fourteen days and their attorney is going to provide their submissions in fourteen days and we come back to the tribunal for the chair of the tribunal and his team to review those. And the date has been set in early August for the next tribunal to sit and discuss and provide us with a response. What we will do, we will go back to our members immediately and as everyone knows we take instruction from our members who are most important persons in this regard. So we go back to the stevedores and we tell them what the tribunal has ruled.”

Bruce Diaz

Bruce Diaz, Stevedore/Negotiator

“The tribunal’s ruling as we heard from the last time was final. Now I call it a circus cause we have to come back for a clarification of a ruling that was said by the minister and everybody that that was final. The minister stated in his interview night before on the TV that we might have to go to a higher court or they cannot enforce it. So now if they cannot enforce it, what was the sense of the tribunal on a whole? Because then we didn’t need the tribunal if they cannot enforce. Better we could have overpass the tribunal and went somewhere else.”